Wash off idol mark, Adam Lambert needs true self
Talking about Adam Lambert, most people will think of his smoky makeup, exaggerated stage performance and wonderful singing. As a singer from the talent show American Idol, Adam has been paid much attention, for his sexual orientation,…

Talking about Adam Lambert, most people will thinkof his smoky makeup, exaggerated stage performance and wonderful singing.

As a singer from the talent show American Idol, Adam has been paid much attention, for his sexual orientation, fashionable appearance and varied singing skills. He is not only the mostcontroversial singer in American Idol,but also the most popular candidate.

As a talent show singer, Adam Lambert is excellent insinging, stage performance and always being the controversial topic. Hisfashion style and inspiring experience are what fans pay most attention to. Buthis singing skill on rock, electronic, pop and punk music are the essence that attractsfans. “Brave, inspiring, and wonderful singing” are the labels that fans giveto Adam. Honestly, Adam explains the definition of idol in many aspects.

However, as most signers from talent shows, Adam has beenfrequently criticized: lack of creativity and masterpieces. For many people,the so-called idols are those who can sing and dance, but lack of creatingability. Lots of talent show singers gain popularity through a series ofpackaging. But in short of creativity, they step down from the music marketafter being famous, which is also the common problem for most talent singers.

In American Idol, except for AdamLambert, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood, few names can be remembered bypeople. As for the Chinese talent show market, after Super Girl and Super Boy have promoted popular singers such as Li Yuchun, Zhang Jie and Wei Chen, wealso question where the other singers from the talent shows are. Theirpopularity fades when the show comes to the end. In the Voice of China, onlycandidates who enter the final have some popularity. Others were consumed inthe commercial shows.

Adam is now in a very special period. Though with fansand fame in the world, he has few representative songs except Whataya Want From Me. If he doesn’t workhard in creating, his popularity would decrease. Actually, judging from charts,we can have some ideas. In 2012, when Adam Lambert’s second album Trespassing launched, it ranked first onBillboard in the first week. However, this year, his third album The Original High performs not so impressive.

Washing off the mark of idol in the talent show andtransferring to a musician who is good at both singing and creating, is thedirection that Adam and his team’s goal recently. Since his second album, AdamLambert had joined the whole creating and producing of his songs. To oursurprise, Adam Lambert tried new elements such as rock and electronic in therecent two albums. And the quality of the album also has been improved.

For Adam Lambert who has gone through the polish oftalent show, the most important change is mental state. Idols usually cater tofans. However, for creative musicians, the first principle is the inner mind.In the interview, Adam mentioned that talent show provided them the opportunityto show their real selves. But Adam now still wants to know fans’ ideas andproduce music which is loved by fans. This might be a bottleneck for talentshow singers. Thus, for Adam, the most important point in transformation iscreating the music that he desires.

The followingpart is from the interview with Adam Lambert, who talks about talent show andartist transformation:

CMBN: Your new albumThe Original Highis highly acclaimed. So what do you think of is the biggest draw of this album?

Adam: I think one reason is that I work with very goodproducers. They help me to produce music and improve the sound effect. They aresome of the best in the business. Max Martin and Shell back know how to producegreat music that reaches the heart, and it’s so catchy.

CMBN: You have put a lot of element like EDM into album. And as EDM has become one of the trends of American pop music, how do you think about it? What do you think of the future of pop music?

Adam: Well, I think I’ve explored dance music a bit inmy last album Trespassing as well.But it was different. I think I also explored some darker, kind of moody pop on the last album.

But I think with TheOriginal High, we’ve refined it a bit more. We’ve improved upon it a bitmore. It borrows a lot from the 90’s in this album as well. The dance music isdefinitely the House style from the 90’s. I think it is very important for popmusic to be aware of the trends and to be aware of what people love. Because inorder to connect all the good ideas that we come up with in the songs and goodemotions, you have to put it into a sonic context that people might responseto.

The future of pop music must be very exciting. There’ssomething for everybody, on matter where you are, who you are. There’sdefinitely a thing here in China. And music is becoming more and more global.

And I love being here. I love being connected with my fans.

CMBN: Would you like to try some Chinese music element in next album?

Adam: Who knows. I mean everything is possible.

CMBN: You became popular and establish your career by attending American Idol, so how do you think of talent shows today?

Adam: I think they are an amazing platform for youngperformance. Though people might not be totally aware of how this sort ofbusiness works, because it is kind of complicated. What’s nice about thistalent competition show is that it put you in front of lots of people andallows you to show your talent to the world. Then, hopefully, you got what ittakes and some business people stand up and introduce themselves to you. So, itmakes work a little bit easier.

CMBN: We noticed that you’ve use a lot of original songs in your latest albums. What do you think is the most important things for talent show singer transforming to creative musician?

Adam: You know, it’s not the easy thing in the world.It’s a little bit tricky. I don’t know how it works here in China. But in U.S,there’s only a handful of us, who come from American Idol are still out there.And I don’t actually know what the secret is. I think it’s a combination ofbeing at the right place at the right time, and having talent, understandingwhat you are musically. Having the right team around you is really important,and making good business decisions. I think people don’t always think about it,but they quite through authenticity. I think the artists come out of the showare pretty up front about who we are.

CMBN: As a global pop star, how do you manage your own music career?

Adam: I don’t manage it. If it were left to me, itwould be a mass! I have an amazing team and I think it’s part of success aswell in the music industry, as knowing who to surround yourself with who tohelp you. Get to where you want to go.

CMBN: You will come to China for touring next year. What’s you expectation? What do think of your fans here?

Adam: Yeah, I love my fans here in China. I came ontour to Shanghai a few years ago and it was very exciting. Great response fromthe audiences. And I’m working very hard on my new tour. I have some new ideas.I have a couple of new songs that people haven’t heard before. Definitely doinga lot songs form this new album TheOriginal Highand some of the old hits.

I love my Chinese fans. Every time I landed theairport here in China, I always see so many fans and they’re so sweet. I seelike great drawings and little handicrafts they gave me. It’s feels like areally good connection here.